Weekend Wrap-Up: News From Across the Spectrum

President Trump heads into the weekend by taking his first foreign trip as President. The nine-day trip comes after a week of breaking stories pertaining to Russia-Trump relations. The media has not had much of a chance to catch its breath before a new story breaks, so let’s recap how different news organizations are heading into the weekend.

The lede: The law enforcement investigation into possible coordination between Russia and the Trump campaign has identified a current White House official as a significant person of interest, showing that the probe is reaching into the highest levels of government, according to people familiar with the matter.

The lede: President Trump told Russian officials in the Oval Office this month that firing the F.B.I. director, James B. Comey, had relieved “great pressure” on him, according to a document summarizing the meeting.

“I just fired the head of the F.B.I. He was crazy, a real nut job,” Mr. Trump said, according to the document, which was read to The New York Times by an American official. “I faced great pressure because of Russia. That’s taken off.”

Lede (Note: This is from the AP): President Donald Trump’s attorneys initially wanted him to submit an updated financial disclosure without certifying the information as true, according to correspondence with the Office of Government Ethics.

This week we looked at the he-said she-said that emerges after unflattering news stories break. First, it was H.R. McMaster’s word versus the reporting of the Washington Post in regards to divulging classified information to the Russians. McMaster had to adjust (or reiterate depending on you feel about it) his position after Trump tweeted an admission to sharing information.

Second we had Trump versus Comey in regards to whether Trump asked for Comey to stop the investigation or not.

At what point, does the White House lose credibility when these differences emerge? Does the fact that the Washington Post (multiple sources) and Comey (contemporaneous documentation) both have greater evidence in their favor change how you weigh the White House’s side of the story?